author=Desert Walker link=topic=8662.msg251640#msg251640 date=1340627683]Interesting opinion piece on the controversy over the game's inclusion of a sexual assault scene and the disingenuous response of the developer.

Wow, what a crock of shit that article is. Sorry, but the developer's response was not disingenuous at all. That artcle's selective quoting is.

What the developer actually said:

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â€œSexual assault of any kind is categorically not a theme that we cover in this game.â€

How the author of the article goes on to misquote it:

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To start - donâ€™t show a trailer where a dude pushes a terrified girl against a wall and tries to grab her ass while slobbering all over her neckâ€¦ then tell us â€œsexual assault of any kindâ€ isnâ€™t in the game.

I personally loved the trailer and that scene. It was well done and shows something that many movies never do well, a young women being attacked by a bigger threatening man, and fighting for survival. Nothing stupid like some over the top flip over his head and stabbed in the throat, she kicks him in the balls and bites his ear, then goes for the gun and lady luck plays in her favor. Even better, I bought it as real, that it could happen. Why would people fight about it?

Kevadu is also 100% right about that article. I can cut a full quote in half and make it seem like anyone here is a bald faced liar. And yes, a theme isn't one singular scene, it's an idea that would be expressed multiple times throughout a story. When I watch a movie that has a violent theme, it doesn't mean a person gets punched once and the rest of the flick is a laugh fest, it means I should expect a lot of violent moments. Ign needs to stop paying kids in their basement who write terrible fanfictions to write articles for them.

Just to be fair, the way I read the writer's argument is that the sexual assault is one of the themes of the game because that scene is used to represent one of the defining moments in her transition to the 'Lara Croft we know' personality. That said, that could be viewed as a pretty weak argument, particularly so as it seems to imply that the writer has inside knowledge of the game, and I have no interest in defending her argument. I'm more interested in thoughts on the controversy related to that scene and her opening argument/reasoning about how it should be fine for video games to depict a subject like sexual assault if it's done in a mature fashion. (I happen to agree with that and suspect that most members here will, too.)

EDIT:

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It was well done and shows something that many movies never do well, a young women being attacked by a bigger threatening man, and fighting for survival. Nothing stupid like some over the top flip over his head and stabbed in the throat, she kicks him in the balls and bites his ear, then goes for the gun and lady luck plays in her favor. Even better, I bought it as real, that it could happen.

I beat the game about 30 minutes ago and to make it simple, it's amazing!I think I'll write a review for it for my blog but just in advance, there were some moments I was so engaged into it I found myself screaming along with Lara and reaching my arms to grab that ledge.For some reason I decided to play this game using my high end headphones I acquired recently and the sound is amazing. It's so life like, it really makes you feel you're in that island.

If anyone here is on the fence about getting this game, please, do yourself a favor and get the game, this year just started and I think I already have a candidate for GOTY.